I already loved the second Professor Layton game merely because so much of it takes place aboard a steam train! And quite nicely the scope of the mystery is much broader than the first though there are still some strange towns and townsfolk about. All the great things from the first game are in tact with some nice new additions. Once again I don’t find myself overly concerned about the mini-games but they are fun. However, it can’t be denied that I have done a small bit of complaining about this game. Most annoying is how the game treats you like a complete and utter moron. There are literally times when you look at the map and it says in big letters “GO HERE” and this combined with the constant conversations about “let’s go such and such” or “now let’s go back to so and so” takes a toll. The only other big trip up I’ve had so far is that a major puzzle required me to look at the instruction booklet. This is a portable game for crying out loud, how many of us carrying the instructions with us? But these things aside, I am finding it quite enjoyable and look forward to solving this mystery.

Deka Kyoshi is a manga Kindergarten Cop with a twist of the supernatural. Toyama Narita is a gentle giant of an undercover cop sent in as a new homeroom teacher. The teacher he is replacing committed suicide and the police feel that it is linked to something more sinister happening at the school. On Toyama’s first day he finds that one of his student named Makoto is being bullied. It seems that Makoto can see demons that make people do bad things has become labeled as a liar and a weirdo. Toyama helps Makoto and comes to believe that Makoto has an odd form of synethesia that lets him see emotions as physical forms. So Makoto starts to help Toyama with his investigation but is there a simple scientific explanation or can Makoto see actual demons? The formula for manga seems to be that someone in the class will be emotionally distressed with a after school special problem. Makoto will see the demon that is haunting them and Toyama and Makoto work together to help the student who is in trouble. There also seems to be a sinister boy who is promoting the growth of said demons and is most probably tied in with all the problems at the school. The art feels like a 80s Shonen Jump series despite the fact that it came out in 2006 in Flex Comix. I don’t mind it but I know that is a turn off for some people. The stories themselves are cute and entertaining thanks to Toyama and Makoto being a good team. Toyama comes off as bad-ass when he needs to be and we are slowly seeing Makoto grow as he works with Toyama. The series is not a must read but it is an excellent choice if you want a light supernatural mystery.

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